Revelations
by littlepinkdot5
Summary: It's been a year since Kyoto, but Tsuzuki's mind is still plagued with memories and guilt. Is there any way he can reconcile with his past actions? And what is it that Muraki knows and Tsuzuki doesn't?
1. What Dreams are Made of

Authors Note: Oh my Gosh! I'm so excited! I've wanted to write a Yami no Matsuei fanfic for such a long time, but didn't think my skills were up to it. Also there've been so many nicely done pieces already I wasn't sure whether I could add any more worthy ideas. But last night this story began playing out in my head (yay 4:00a.m. inspiration!), so here it is. Please review, comments make production faster ^^

Rating is M just to stay on the safe side.

I also do not own Yami no Matsuei or any of it's characters.

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><p>"Tsuzuki…"<p>

The dark haired man sluggishly shook his head, the word 'no' slipping from his mouth to skitter across the small empty bedroom. In his dream world a figure of silver darkness stood before him; a man with the devils beauty, graced by a siren's call. He stood before Tsuzuki as the knife was raised, then plunged deep within his abdomen. Crimson flowers exploded over white cotton to fall like rain upon the metal floor.

"I'm sorry!" Tsuzuki gasps in horror recoiling backwards from the leaking wound.

"I didn't mean, I mean-you-how, WHY?" He cries towards the man falling upon his knees.

"Why did you have to hurt so many people? Why did it have to come to this?" The silver man's face is hidden in shadows as delicate hands gently touch the knife within him.

"Tsuzuki..." A dark voice issues from the shadowed face, it is soft, almost motherly as it chides. "I believe you've forgotten something..." A white hand caresses the knife's bone handle.

"No..." Tsuzuki shakes his head again, revulsion growing as his eyes remain fixed upon the offending blade.

"No I don't want it. I never wanted it." Shaking arms rise to cover his petrified face, trying to hide from the blood, but he can already feel it sinking into his shoes. A dry chuckle mocks his efforts.

"Come now, Mr. Tsuzuki. You cannot deny what is rightfully yours...you and I, never had a choice." The voice slithers into Tsuzuki's ear and he shivers even as his hand move's unwillingly towards the handle.

"Please," He begs in a broken whisper, "I do n-not want th-this, please...I'm so sorry." Tears fall from his face as; half crouching he stretches, and gasps when his fingers slip over the bloody blade.

"You cannot deny..." The silver man mummers, as his hand catches Tsuzuki's own and trails it along the shaft. Tsuzuki knows he should, his mind is screaming to run, but like a bird caught within a python's gaze, the voice holds him, the contrast of warm blood and cold flesh transfixes him. Caught in this state of sick fascination he can only watch as his hand is lead past the handle to the torn flesh beneath.

"You have punctured my transverse abdominus, but even missing all internal organs, I may not live through the blood loss." Tsuzuki cringes as his fingers enter the wound, following the knife blade till he can feel the slippery churning of large intestine.

"Sloppy." The man hisses, drawing Tsuzuki's fingers out and then up, along his chest.

"Why?" Tsuzuki cries as unable to stop the tears as he is to pull away.

"What do you want from me? Muraki?" Like a spell the shadows disperses before the name leaving a face with eyes a vast complexity of emotion. Tsuzuki shakes as silver irises stared intently into him. Hate, anger, amusement, disappointment, love, lust, confusion, surprise, loss, grief, the list went on and on barraging his mind with sensory input. Under such assault Tsuzuki was hardly even aware as Muraki began to suck upon his bloody fingers, or when the man moved forward to place a gentle crimson kiss below his ear.

"Beloved..." He murmured, before Tsuzuki awoke with cold shivers of dread trickling down his spine.


	2. A Comfortable Façade

It'd been nearly a year since the events of Kyoto. At first, Tsuzuki had found no peace in sleep, each night plagued by grisly nightmares; but as Hisoka's bands quietly faded so too did the guilt filled dreams.

Wiping sweat from his brow Tsuzuki cast a searching glance towards the clock.

3:00a.m.

_Another dream,_ he thought, and bile rose in his throat at the recollection of his hand within Muraki's stomach. Though work was hours away Tsuzuki rolled off his cot and padded softly towards the shower. He felt sick, and the dreams always left a defiled sensation upon his skin, as if the blood had soaked trough his dreamself leaving a ghostly greeting for when he wakened.

Flipping the bathroom light on, Tsuzuki ignored his reflection as he plucked a number of scentless candles from the mirror's cabinet. Lighting, and then carefully balancing the candles upon the toilet seat, Tsuzuki turned on the shower. He waited a moment to undress till steam began curling from the spray. Stepping gratefully into the warmth he sighed running a tired hand over his face.

At first the dreams had terrified him. Though Hisoka insisted Muraki still lived; alone in the dark, Tsuzuki often feared it was the soul of a dead man haunting his sleep. He used to wake, twisted within sweaty sheets, and trembling with chills. Sometimes he'd be forced to spend hours over the toilet dry heaving, his body attempting to expel something alien and unfound. The fatigue had showed during work, but Tsuzuki had daftly turned worried inquiries with humorous explanations. Eventually the dreams had faded and his soul was again able to rest easy.

_You cannot deny…_

Tsuzuki mechanically scrubbed his body, trying to lose himself in comforting sensations of drumming water and soothing heat.

_The bone handle, glittering with crimson moonlight, his own bone, stricken from a corrupted body_

Tsuzuki hands fell away as he slowly curled within the shower, laying head upon bent knees.

The dreams weren't always about Muraki, often others played the victims role. Each a dead face from the past; each a face of someone he'd murdered. Tsuzuki's body began to quaked with silent sobs as he remembered, his sister…

_Silent roses draped in blood _

_Pooling from the golden girl_

_Her body askew on twisted shrub_

_As blade descended to embed anew_

_Silent eyes who knew no life_

_Silent tongue which told no lie_

_Both condemned the tainted son_

_His deed a sin of demon's bile _

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><p>Tatsumi glanced up from his desk as Tsuzuki entered the office, surprise flitting quietly over his face. Tsuzuki never arrived to work on time, much less early. Tatsumi's eyes glanced sideways at the clock, before calling out a greeting.<p>

"Good morning Tsuzuki. I'm surprised to see you in so early. Is everything alright?" He added with mild interest at the man's bruised, sleepy eyes .

"Yeah," Tsuzuki yawned, "Didn't sleep well, you know…Thought I'd come in early to get some work done…" Tsuzuki almost had to laugh at the subtle manipulation of Tatsumi's features. No one else would have caught it, but Tsuzuki knew the other man was surprised

"Well it's encouraging to see your finally developing good work habits." He said with a glinted smile off polished glasses.

"More like my bed's an uncomfortable mat on the floor." Tsuzuki grumbled wandering to his own desk. Flopping inelegantly into a chair, Tsuzuki dully inspection the pile of papers inhabiting his table. He'd hoped to come in and finish up early, leaving enough time to sneak home for a nap but, Tsuzuki poked begrudgingly at the stack of papers. Sighing, he spun around on the wheels of his chair hoping for something to prolong the inevitable a little longer. Coasting over to Tatsumi, Tsuzuki noted some of the files his colleague was working on.

_Unsolved cases_

"Hey Tatsumi!" He chirped once the man had glance up from his papers.

"Can I have some money to buy a new bed?"Tsuzuki honestly wasn't expecting much, but the frosty smile and solid 'no' propelled him backwards to his own section of the office. Tsuzuki giggled to himself. The secretary could be so cute sometimes, with his chilling glare. Tsuzuki knew the man was only cold so as to better protect his soft heart.

"Well," He called over his shoulder. "All I can say is you'd best be on guard, lest I start working more hours then you!" Satisfied with knowing he'd given Tatsumi something to chuckle about, Tsuzuki hunkered down in preparation for hours of tedious paper work.


	3. The Job

As the clock hit 6:00a.m. the rest of the Summons Bureau slowly trickled in, each one surprised in their own way to see Tsuzuki already at work. First was Chief Konoe an extra large cup of coffee in his hand, and a wrinkled if tired smile upon his face. Tsuzuki could relate, and wished he'd thought to grab a cup of Joe on his way in too. Then came Terazuma and Kannuki. As the door opened Kannuki pulled away from her partner as if she'd been in the middle of some personal discussion. Judging by Terazuma's tight lips and Kannuki's over ecstatic morning greetings, the two must have been bickering again. Next came Hisoka, wearing his usual denim and morning teenage grump. Tsuzuki waved as his partner entered and was delighted to see a light smile cross the boy's eyes. Last but hardly least entered Watari accompanied by Gushoshin younger, their arms nearly bursting with colorful pink packages.

"Gooood morrrning!" Watari called cheerily from behind his parcels.

"Watari! Be careful!" Gushoshin cried as the man proceeded to trip, slide, and bump his way towards the large meeting table.

"Watch what you're doing you blond flussie." Terazuma growled barely catching his mug of tea as Watari bumbled by.

"Op, sorry bout that, beasty boy." Watari chuckled while surreptitiously backstopping into the other man's desk.

"Why you-"

"Here, Watari, lemme help you with those." Tsuzuki offered bounding to his feet before smoke had a chance to flair from Terazuma's nostrils.

"Ah, thank you Tsuzuki. It's good to know not everyone has abandon their manners." Watari sniffed towards Terazuma. "Especially towards those bearing gifts."

"Gifts?" Tsuzuki repeated, trying to hide his excitement while plucking a few choice boxes from the blonde's stack. As he'd hoped upon each parcel was printed Chīsana Okashi Bakery. Giving an elated cry Tsuzuki pounced upon Watari wrapping his friend in a tight bear hug. A resigned sigh was heard throughout the office as little pink packages exploded over the floor.

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><p>After everything had been cleaned up and everyone settled at the great table with their own plate of sweets, Konoe gave a cough indicating he was ready to begin. Tsuzuki's tail wagged as he marveled upon his mountain of sweets, unsure of were to begin. There were cinabunes, little powered dounuts, fruity Wagashi, a variety of tea cakes and, Tsuzuki sighed blissfully, even apple pie. Unable to make up his mind the brunette stuffed a little bit of everything into his mouth and chewed rapturously. So engrossed was he within his own confection heaven that Tsuzuki was greatly unprepared for the surprise elbow Hisoke jammed pointedly into his side.<p>

"Owwww! Hisoka!" The man whined little crumbs flying from over packed cheeks as he turned an accusing look towards his partner.

"Tsuzuki." Chief Konoe commanded from across the way, his knuckles rapping the table for emphasis. "Now that you've seemed fit to rejoin us, we will proceed outlining your mission for today." With some difficultly Tsuzuki swallowed the large lump within his throat trying not to seem too embarrassed as Konoe passed him a sheet of paper.

"There've been reports of ghost sightings in the Kanto region." The Chief begin pointing to the large map behind him. "The sightings started a fortnight ago after a large snowstorm moved through the area. According to witness the ghost is a small girl who tends to approach women asking if they've seen her mother, before disappearing. What you have there is an artistic rendering of the child's face." Tsuzuki moved the picture slightly towards Hisoka as they both contemplated the drawing.

The girl couldn't have been older than six. Her face was round, still with childish pudge and framed by a waterfall of disheveled black hair. She had a small pout of a mouth, with a stub nose and large dark eyes. The orbs had a sad longing in them, reflecting the child's desire for a mother she couldn't find. Tsuzuki gently touched the girl's cheek, sorrow stirring in his heart.

"What's her name?" He asked softly feeling Hisoka put a reassuring hand on his knee. The older man took it, giving a slight squeeze of thanks. That was one of the things he loved about Hisoka, the boy never failed to offer comfort, even if he wasn't sure how it'd be received. In his mind Hisoka was the bravest person Tsuzuki had ever met, and he was eternally grateful to whatever divine force had brought them together.

"We don't know," Konoe shook his head. "No one's been able to identify her yet."

"What about the mom?" Hisoka asked, and this time it was Tatsumi who answered.

"Without a name we've been unable to discover who her parents may be. It is my guess, "His gaze shifts to the troubled form of Tsuzuki and Tatsumi's cold voice softens somewhat. "That during the storm both the girl and her mother died. If either of you could gain the child's name we would have an easier time confirming the mother location. There is after all a great possibility that the mother has already moved on." Tsuzuki's heart eased some at this thought. If they could affirm the mother's assention then uniting the two would be much easier.

"There is one more thing you should know." Konoe said, sharp eyes watching Tsuzuki. "The ghost was last seen near Urswa." Hisoka felt his partner grow cold, his thoughts hurriedly stumbling inward upon themselves and disappearing past a closed door. Worry creased Hisoka's brow as he glanced up only to be meet with a smiling Tsuzuki.

"Well we better get going." Tsuzuki laughed giving Hisoka a friendly scruff. "And don't forget to grab a coat, it's guna be chilly." The boy gave back a hesitant smile as he watched sweets disappear within his friend's trench coat.

_What are you hiding, Tsuzuki._


End file.
